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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ASXL1 mutations in U937 cells disrupt myeloid differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Additional sex combs-like 1 (ASXL1) is a well?known tumor suppressor gene and epigenetic modifier. ASXL1 mutations are frequent in myeloid malignances; these mutations are risk factors for the development of myelodysplasia and also appear as small clones during normal aging. ASXL1 appears to act as an epigenetic regulator of cell survival and myeloid differentiation; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying the malignant transformation of cells with ASXL1 mutations are not well defined. Using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein-9 nuclease (Cas9) genome editing, heterozygous and homozygous ASXL1 mutations were introduced into human U937 leukemic cells. Comparable cell growth and cell cycle progression were observed between wild-type (WT) and ASXL1-mutated U937 cells. Drug-induced cytotoxicity, as measured by growth inhibition and apoptosis in the presence of the cell-cycle active agent 5-fluorouracil, was variable among the mutated clones but was not significantly different from WT cells. In addition, ASXL1-mutated cells exhibited defects in monocyte/macrophage differentiation. Transcriptome analysis revealed that ASXL1 mutations altered differentiation of U937 cells by disturbing genes involved in myeloid differentiation, including cytochrome B-245 ? chain and C-type lectin domain family 5, member A. Dysregulation of numerous gene sets associated with cell death and survival were also observed in ASXL1-mutated cells. These data provide evidence regarding the underlying molecular mechanisms induced by mutated ASXL1 in leukemogenesis.

SUBMITTER: Wu ZJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5843401 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ASXL1 mutations in U937 cells disrupt myeloid differentiation.

Wu Zhi-Jie ZJ Zhao Xin X Banaszak Lauren G LG Gutierrez-Rodrigues Fernanda F Keyvanfar Keyvan K Gao Shou-Guo SG Quinones Raffo Diego D Kajigaya Sachiko S Young Neal S NS

International journal of oncology 20180228 4

Additional sex combs-like 1 (ASXL1) is a well‑known tumor suppressor gene and epigenetic modifier. ASXL1 mutations are frequent in myeloid malignances; these mutations are risk factors for the development of myelodysplasia and also appear as small clones during normal aging. ASXL1 appears to act as an epigenetic regulator of cell survival and myeloid differentiation; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying the malignant transformation of cells with ASXL1 mutations are not well defined. Usin ...[more]

PMID: 29532865

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Project description:Purpose: Recurrent ASXL1 mutations are frequently observed in all spectrums of myeloid malignancies and published data suggests that ASXL1 mutations may be involved in leukemic transformation as a tumor suppressor. Yet the molecular mechanisms of cell desitiny regulated by ASXL1 are to be further delineated. Methods: mRNA profiles of wild-type (WT) and CRISPR/Cas9 induced ASXL1 mutated U937 cell lines were generated by next generation sequencing, using Illumina HiSeq2500. Sequence reads were trimmed to remove possible adapter sequences and nucleotides with poor quality at the ends. Remaining sequence reads were then aligned to the human reference genome (hg19) using Tophat2. Gene read counts were measured using FeatureCounts and FPKM values were calculated with cufflinks. edgeR was used to identify differentially expressed genes between conditions, and topGO was used for annotation (Alexa, Rahnenfuhrer, and Lengauer, 2006). Sample comparison for differential gene expression was as follows: WTblk and WT1 versus MT2, MT3, MT4, and MT5. Gene enrichment set analysis (GSEA) was conducted with KEGG, Biocarta, and Reactome pathway datasets (Subramanian et al., 2005). Results: ASXL1-mutated cells displayed impaired differentiation capacity. RNA-seq was used to compare transcriptomes of ASXL1-mutated and WT U937 cells. Transcriptom analysis revealed that ASXL1 mutations decreased the expression of genes essential to myeloid differentiation, including CYBB and CLEC5A genes, which manifested in ASXL1-MT U937 cells as perturbed potential of differentiation compared with WT cells. Also, gene set enrichment analysis revealed that ASXL1 mutations masively affected gene sets relating to cell death and survival. Conclusion: By introduction of mutations into genome using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, we established ASXL1-mutated U937 cell lines. Our results indicated that ASXL1 mutations perturbed monocytic/phagocyte differentiation, which is a hallmark of myeloid malignancies, by down regulating genes essential to myeloid differentiation, including CYBB and CLEC5A, also massively affected multiple gene sets involving in cell survival.

Project description:IntroductionThe differentiation of B cells into antibody-secreting plasma cells depends on cell division-coupled, epigenetic and other cellular processes that are incompletely understood.MethodsWe have developed a CRISPR/Cas9-based screen that models an early stage of T cell-dependent plasma cell differentiation and measures B cell survival or proliferation versus the formation of CD138+ plasmablasts. Here, we refined and extended this screen to more than 500 candidate genes that are highly expressed in plasma cells.ResultsAmong known genes whose deletion preferentially or mostly affected plasmablast formation were the transcription factors Prdm1 (BLIMP1), Irf4 and Pou2af1 (OBF-1), and the Ern1 gene encoding IRE1a, while deletion of XBP1, the transcriptional master regulator that specifies the expansion of the secretory program in plasma cells, had no effect. Defective plasmablast formation caused by Ern1 deletion could not be rescued by the active, spliced form of XBP1 whose processing is dependent on and downstream of IRE1a, suggesting that in early plasma cell differentiation IRE1a acts independently of XBP1. Moreover, we newly identified several genes involved in NF-kB signaling (Nfkbia), vesicle trafficking (Arf4, Preb) and epigenetic regulators that form part of the NuRD complex (Hdac1, Mta2, Mbd2) to be required for plasmablast formation. Deletion of ARF4, a small GTPase required for COPI vesicle formation, impaired plasmablast formation and blocked antibody secretion. After Hdac1 deletion plasmablast differentiation was consistently reduced by about 50%, while deletion of the closely related Hdac2 gene had no effect. Hdac1 knock-out led to strongly perturbed protein expression of antagonistic transcription factors that govern plasma cell versus B cell identity (by decreasing IRF4 and BLIMP1 and increasing BACH2 and PAX5).DiscussionTaken together, our results highlight specific and non-redundant roles for Ern1, Arf4 and Hdac1 in the early steps of plasma cell differentiation.

Project description:BackgroundAdditional sex combs-like 1 (ASXL1) mutations have been described in all forms of myeloid neoplasms including chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) and associated with inferior outcomes, yet the molecular pathogenesis of ASXL1 mutations (ASXL1-MT) remains poorly understood. Transformation of CMML to secondary AML (sAML) is one of the leading causes of death in CMML patients. Previously, we observed that transcription factor RUNX1 mutations (RUNX1-MT) coexisted with ASXL1-MT in CMML and at myeloid blast phase of chronic myeloid leukemia. The contribution of RUNX1 mutations in the pathogenesis of myeloid transformation in ASXL1-mutated leukemia, however, remains unclear.MethodsTo evaluate the leukemogenic role of RUNX1-MT in ASXL1-mutated cells, we co-expressed RUNX1-MT (R135T) and ASXL1-MT (R693X) in different cell lines and performed immunoblot, co-immunoprecipitation, gene expression microarray, quantitative RT-PCR, cell proliferation, differentiation, and clonogenic assays for in vitro functional analyses. The in vivo effect was investigated using the C57BL/6 mouse bone marrow transplantation (BMT) model.ResultsCo-expression of two mutant genes increased myeloid stem cells in animal model, suggesting that cooperation of RUNX1 and ASXL1 mutations played a critical role in leukemia transformation. The expression of RUNX1 mutant in ASXL1-mutated myeloid cells augmented proliferation, blocked differentiation, and increased self-renewal activity. At 9 months post-BMT, mice harboring combined RUNX1 and ASXL1 mutations developed disease characterized by marked splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and leukocytosis with a shorter latency. Mice transduced with both ASXL1 and RUNX1 mutations enhanced inhibitor of DNA binding 1 (ID1) expression in the spleen, liver, and bone marrow cells. Bone marrow samples from CMML showed that ID1 overexpressed in coexisted mutations of RUNX1 and ASXL1 compared to normal control and either RUNX1-MT or ASXL1-MT samples. Moreover, the RUNX1 mutant protein was more stable than WT and increased HIF1-α and its target ID1 gene expression in ASXL1 mutant cells.ConclusionThe present study demonstrated the biological and functional evidence for the critical role of RUNX1-MT in ASXL1-mutated leukemia in the pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies.

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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ASXL1 mutations in U937 cells disrupt myeloid differentiation.

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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ASXL1 mutations in U937 cells disrupt myeloid differentiation.

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